Boeing has decided that wing fabrication for our newest and most efficient twin-aisle airplane will be performed by the highly skilled employees at our site in Everett, Wash., at a new wing center to be built north of the factory.

This represents an important opportunity for our entire Puget Sound work force and for the Everett site, which can look forward to new investment, infrastructure growth and years of job stability.

The new center will be about 1 million square feet in size – large enough accommodate fabrication of the 777X composite wing panel stringers, wing skins and wing spars. Permitting is under way, and construction is scheduled to begin later this year. The new wing center will replace the 40-83, 40-84 and 40-85 buildings, which are currently used as office space. Employees who work in those buildings will receive details soon about the impact of the construction and transition plans.

Everett also will be home to 777X wing assembly and final assembly of the airplane. We’re working out those details and will announce more specifics over the next few months.

Boeing built the Everett site in the 1960s to produce the 747 – the largest commercial airplane the world had ever seen -- and it has been at the forefront of innovation ever since. The 777X extends that legacy and will put our Everett team on the cutting edge of composite technology. This investment in facilities and employee training will strengthen our ability to grow and compete for the long term. Thank you to everyone who participated in the process and made this moment possible.

What happened to your Chinese, Italian, fill in as appropriate friends? Outsourcing no more fun, eh?

The business model of Boeing as a "large scale systems integrator" (translation: neither an engineering nor a manufacturing company) is a quaint artifact of the now-discredited Condit/Stonecipher regime. It was a noble experiment. We have moved on.

What happened to your Chinese, Italian, fill in as appropriate friends? Outsourcing no more fun, eh?

The business model of Boeing as a "large scale systems integrator" (translation: neither an engineering nor a manufacturing company) is a quaint artifact of the now-discredited Condit/Stonecipher regime. It was a noble experiment. We have moved on.

The new wing center will replace the 40-83, 40-84 and 40-85 buildings, which are currently used as office space. Employees who work in those buildings will receive details soon about the impact of the construction and transition plans.